Happy Birthday...

It's my youngest's birthday today, and he's home sick with me... which makes two days in a row. Poor guy has a strep infection, which also led to a strep rash that covered his poor body. It seems as if the fever has passed for the day as he is up and running around now. It's been tough nights and slow mornings for him the past couple of days though. He was upset yesterday morning because it meant no perfect attendance award, and this morning after I said I thought he should stay home again he was upset because, "I know I'll have a lot of work on my desk." He sounds like me! But hopefully after two days of antibiotics and he will be back to school tomorrow! Although it's been interesting having him home while I'm working...


While I haven't posted any pics yet, I did get to scrapbook 2 weekends in a row! With a possible opportunity to go again this weekend? My kids will think I've fallen off the edge of the world... I'm keeping track though and I'm at a total of 38 pages and 18 double pg layouts, 2 cover pages. I have my daughter's cover page to do yet. Now if I could just find more time during the week to keep going on this. I would like to try and do a page a day, but I think this year I'll try to finish the 100 double page layouts and see how that goes.
 
Now if I can add cleaning and organizing my house, running and working out to that list, I'll feel like a "well-rounded" person, busy, but rounded!

Summer Slacker...

I guess I've been a blogger slacker this summer. I wrapped up working the old job at the end of July and have been off since then... But it is amazing what I found to fill all that free time, as it has been an incredibly busy summer. However, the kids are now back to school, fall sports (that would be football, volleyball and soccer for us) are in full swing, and I start my new job today. Just waiting for the IT person to show up at our house to hook up the new computer.

Let's see... In July we traveled to the U.P. for our first family camping trip in a few years. It was amazing. The weather was beautiful, the company was great, and we had a wonderful time. Below are just a few pics...

The campground had an indoor pool, that was perfect for the one rainy day that we had on the trip...

Visiting Mackinac Island, near Arch Rock for this family shot.

Canoeing down the Tahquanemon River....

My three kiddos... Robby on the left, Jessi sitting in the middle, and Jason exploring out on the edge on the right.... This was in the Pictured Rock National Park/Shoreline.

After vacation and wrapping up work for one company, it was full swing in the football volunteer duties. We had over 350 kids sign up this year between flag, cheer and football. I ordered all new uniforms and spent lots of time sorting, assigning and handing them out. My next big "gig" was volunteering to help coach - as the highly unpaid assistant - for the 7th grade volleyball team. I am loving it though, even though it's only 1 week in, but so far - so good. It will be a chore to balance her volleyball and soccer with his football, and still do the youth football for the 3rd - 8th grade teams, but I can't think of much else I'd rather be doing... other than it would give me more time to train and run.

After running the 1/2 marathon in May, I did one 5k at the end of May, and a 10k a couple weeks ago. This coming weekend I have a 10 mile run, and then in October is another half. But for the most part, my training to a vacation just like my job did.... back on track though.

I also finished my bachelor's degree!! So glad, so very very glad, to be done with school. There is a reason that most college students are in their 20's and not their 30's with three kids and a job.... whew.

So there is the "short" recap of my summer!

The World of Middle School Track

This week has been fun for me. I've entered the world of middle school track meets! Since I am a "new" runner, I obviously wasn't a track star in school. Only ran one year (8th grade), as I preferred sports like volleyball and softball that required very little running. I went into this new season after hearing all the warnings about middle school track; such as comments like, "it's just track," "it's a social hour," or even better, "it's a waste of time." I have watched my kids in all kinds of sports, as they have all been blessed with that athletic gene, and on top if it, that competitive gene as well. So for my son, 7th grade track is not about social hour, as he doesn't do much, especially not a sport, "just for fun." After watching the first two meets of the year, and seeing how my son and some of the other kids have done at them, I would have to disagree with the warnings that were given to me. Yes, there are always those kids at middle school and even high school that are in it for the social factor; however, the majority of the kids that I was blessed to watch, are in it for the win, or at least to do the best that they can. Some are already keeping track of their best times, the schools best times, etc... 

However, prior to trying to become a runner myself, (I apologize in advance to any runners that I may offend) I may have jumped on the "running is not a sport" bandwagon, and my sister ran cross country and track. Now, after attempting to become a runner myself, I realize that the old saying about "walking (in this case running) a mile in someone else's shoes" definitely applies to this sport, and this sport at this level. These are middle school kids, and I'm sure we all remember "that" age. That age where your feet were 4 sizes too big for the rest of your body, when you were faced with surging hormones, bad acne, crushes and heartache, fitting in, etc...

These kids face their own type of fears every day, and when they are on the track they do not have a time-out, with a team huddle, and teammates to slap them on the shoulders and drag them out of their emotional downward spiral. Even in wrestling, which is huge in our family, the wrestlers are on the mat "alone," but the coach is right there in their corner, the teammates and fans are just feet away. On the track, the closest contact for these kids rounding turn three, is the person they are trying to beat, and that person isn't going to stand over their shoulder and say, "c'mon, you can beat me..."  When they get to that turn, and still have another 200 to 3000m to go, they have no voice to propel them forward but their own.

From my own last year of running, I have come to realize how mental this sport (and I know now that it really is a sport) really is. I may be very athletic, and running did come kind of natural once I started, even late in life, but I'm not as mentally strong as some of these middle school kids. There was one kid from our school that ran the 800 with my son. My son is quick and has placed in both meets, but the other kid was barely finishing lap one when the rest were finishing lap two. I know many many adults that would have stepped off the track right there, but this kid kept on jogging along at his own pace, and when he crossed the finish line, the team cheered him on, but on lap two at the first corner and for the next 600 m. He was all alone. So no matter if it would have taken him 2 minutes or 5 minutes to finish the race, the fact that he finished shows that he has learned one lesson of this sport already. And it's a lesson that I'll take with me next weekend at the Flying Pig, to keep going, to keep moving forward, and that no matter if I get passed by someone three times my age, that it's my race. I'm out to beat the goals I set for myself, and to do the best that I can. I would love to place in my age group someday, but being my first, I just want to finish. And in finishing, realize that I've already accomplished one goal in itself.

Here are a few pics of my son - I'm so proud of him. He cleared 8'9" - personal record for him - on the pole vault.

A Great Day for some Mud Fun...

My two oldest kids had a youth group "thing" after church this morning, so I promised my youngest some fun time outside. He learned last fall how to ride his bike without the training wheels, and with all this snow he hasn't been able to ride. So, we decided to brave the open road! We live in a rural area, and there's a nice long stretch of road (this is also where I run). Robby wanted to go to the "hill" not up the big hill, but to it, and then come back. This is about 1/2 mile down and another 1/2 mile back. We pulled his bike out of storage, brushed off the cobwebs and hit the open road.

          

We made it past the driveway before the first "wipeout" happened. Don't worry - he gracefully fell to the ground in a dramatic fashion as I caught the handlebars - his helmet is packed away somewhere with all our summer stuff, so I walked along with him. Robby wanted to know if he looked like "roadkill".. he was definitely posing in this photo after his graceful fall to the ground. A couple of times he steered off into the snow banks and gracefully fell into the snow... All the biking and falling made him thirsty, and we were only about 1/4 mile down the road!

 

   

After we turned around at the half mile mark, he really had the hang of it riding home. He did great, and only "purposely" went down one other snow bank. He didn't fall once on the way back - until.....

He asked if he could ride through the mud puddle at the end of our driveway, and being under the full affect of "spring fever" I told him go ahead (what was mom thinking?). So he speeds up to make a splash and before I could get my camera out, he fell smack dab in the middle of it. Being the terrible mother that I am, I doubled over in laughter, and then made him turn around to get a good picture!

   

So we have laundry to do, his shoes need to be washed and dried before school tomorrow! But it was fun, and he keeps asking when we can go again. He wants to try and ride up the hill (and I would like to be able to sprint up it as well - it's a good size hill though!) I told him when he gets stable enough he can be my new running partner - he can bike while I run - but he'll have to be able to make it up the hill!

Success in Childrearing...

OK, so I'm not of the "age" yet where I can say I'm "good" at this. Can one ever say, "I was a complete and utter success at everything involved in child rearing..." I doubt it. I look at some of the best moms I know and I know they have "things" they might change, I know I do. And in those times of wondering could I screw this up anymore (usually when they are fighting, dinner is burning and homework is again being done at 8:00 at night..) you suddenly are hit with the revelation of revelations, "wow, they really do listen to what I say."

The other day was one of those days when I realized that, by golly, I must be doing "something" right. I decided this when I realized that my three year old had just "out-witted" me with my own wisdom. On the way to school, while asking me about what everyone was doing that day and what we were doing when we got home, he asked if I would play with him that night. Now, playing with my children is something I love to do; however, I also know better than to promise him to devoted and uninterrupted playtime, since by the time I get home do dinner, go through homework and everything, the play time seems to get cut short. And, I knew that night was one of those nights (which does little for your self-esteem as a mother to realize that you have to choose dinner vs. play or homework vs. play, etc...).

Anyway, while telling him that mommy really wanted to play and if we got home and ate all our dinner really quick and mommy would play with him while we helped the older kids with homework, he (the ever so wise 3 year old) tells me in this matter of fact tone. "I know you will play with me mommy, because it's nice to play with others, and God likes it when we are nice to each other." Hmmm... yes God, I will play tonight, we may eat frozen dinner or fast food, but my three year old will have a play mate to "be nice to him" tonight, because yes God, I know you like it when we are "nice to each other."

Keep Moving Forward...

"Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." ~ Walt Disney ~

Yes, I have been inspired by Walt Disney, or a movie in his name. I just watched "Meet the Robinsons" with my kiddos, and it is inspiring. I think it's good to sit back and enjoy a nice, feel-good, let's unwind and eat popcorn movie... and yes, maybe I cried at the end (isn't that what Walt Disney really means - you will cry...). Well I did. And, for Meet the Robinsons being a "kid" movie. There is a whole lot in there that I, and probably most any adult, to learn from (and I love the theme song, "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas).

I will keep moving forward. As children we stood up when we fell down, we wiped the dirt and gravel from our knees and hands, we jumped back on the bike that tried to kill us, and we kept moving forward. A little road gravel didn't slow us down, a broken hand, a sprained ankle, whatever the ailment, as a kid it didn't matter. Whatever the insult or injury, you just kept going. As adults, I think we lose some of this, whether it's age (it is harder to jump back up as you get old, the back and knees just don't cooperate as well as they used to), or just the fact that sometimes it is defnitely hard-mentally-to stand back up and get on the bike when you've been knocked down so many times. Sometimes I wonder when it will be my time, my moment in the sun, my time to shine, and any type of disappointment is hard, but even as an adult, I know I have to keep moving forward.

I will do just as I did as a kid, I'll stand up wipe the dirt off, "suck it up" as they say, face my fears and move on. I won't let the hurt feelings, the scraped knees or the humility of being knocked down in front of the world stop me from moving on. I will look at each failure as an opportunity to learn. I will accept the challenges of "new" situations and know that by doing so, I will teach my kids the same thing. And yes, I will keep watching "kid" movies. Because I like simple. I like good and wholesome, and I like knowing that there is still good around me and good to pass onto the next generation. And now, I can go to bed with a good song running through my head, for as the song "Little Wonders" says... "Let it go, Let it roll right off your shoulders, Don't you know, the hardest part is over..."

Lincoln Logs and Race Cars

So, the other night I had like three different, incredible blog ideas... but life happened. Namely, Robby Jay.... he decided mom hadn't played enough with him lately and that I needed to "play a game." That game ended up being Lincoln Logs and race cars on the floor for an hour and a half.

Now, I love playing on the floor, and I really don't do it often enough, but why do kids insist on building this great, fantastic, marvelous masterpiece of wood. You use all the lincoln logs available and even make a trip back to the bedroom for more, and then... then... you knock it down! And, what is really great, is that in the mind of this incredible 3 (3 and don't forget the 1/2) year old, the knocking down is better than all the building. I can put in fancy rooms with windows and make doors and even add a roof, and in the end, "whoosh" it all comes tumbling down in a burst of glory. And then, all of a sudden, it was time to put them away and play race cars. But, oh, don't try to keep the house together when you put it back in the tote, that's no good to have it pre-assembled for the next lincoln log session. I tried, believe me, I tried to save that masterpiece that I sat on the floor for so long to make (so long that I had numb feet and legs from sitting there), but I tried in vain. The "destructinator" (Robby Jay) decided "Mom, no... you can't leave it together" and then he decided to make sure by conveniently sticking his big boy foot in the tub and smashing my labor of love to pieces... but it brought a smile to his face.

But then, next was the race cars.... Now why is it that with race cars, you have to line up 100 different cars across my living room floor (on carpet nonetheless) and then feel completely helpless when this same 3 and 1/2 yr old decides "ready, set, go..." and you can't push 100 cars all at one time to make them race. How was I supposed to do this? I had to try and think quick, because the "Mommy can do it" look was on his face.... Of course, it was really only like 15 - 20 cars, but when you are suddenly challenged to race them all at once, it seems like a 100. The quick thinking failed me, and I have to admit mommy did not know the answer to this one... So, what did this quick (rather, not so quick) thinking mom do? I bailed, I distracted, I tried the "which one do you think will win?" and the "guess which one is mommy's favorite?" But it was all to no avail. Robby wanted to race... So, what do you do? I am ashamed to say, at 10:30 at night, I bribed my way out of race cars with the option of watching "Barnyard" instead. Who wouldn't rather here a cow sing Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down"? I know it seemed like the better option to me!

But back to the beginning of my blog, being that I did originally, three nights ago, have some really good ideas to blog about, but I lost them. They are somewhere in the neverland of my mind, buried under lincoln logs and race cars, and some night, I'm sure I will be wide awake at 3 am and those ideas will hit me all of a sudden, and maybe, just maybe I will have the energy to drag my weary self out of bed and blog those three good ideas that I once had... But, instead of those great blogs that I know I had... you get lincoln logs and race cars instead!

Dancing in the Kitchen...

Playing fun, upbeat music and dancing in the kitchen with the kids while making dinner has got to be one of my favorite things to do, one of my favorite ways to lighten up and relieve the days stress and anxiety and to have fun with my three most favorite people in the world. I have done this for 11 years now, actually longer, I used to dance by myself in the house when I was pregnant.... and sing to the baby in my belly (what a sight that would have been if someone walked in unannounced!)

Robby and I just got done jamming to "Put me in Coach..." we had to play it about 10 times and danced and sang at the top of our lungs... I think we scared the cat away, and knocked a few dishes off the counter in the mean time... but it was fun!

All of my kids love music and love to sing, even though we might not be the next American Idol... I love that they can relax and have fun this way. Yes, there are dishes to do and rooms to clean, but you have to lighten up and dance. Once your body is moving, feet are tapping and the whole room is spinning as we dance in circles.... once that all happens, there is no way to be tired and grumpy. This is my new recipe for relaxation and fun... and the easiest, funnest way to burn calories!!

"Put me in coach, I'm ready to play today..." And so life moves one, and I will choose to dance anyday! Can I have this dance??